If Only
by douriki
Summary: Moda woke up one beautiful morning to find a huge surprise nearby


**If Only...**

_by ~douriki_

* * *

><p>The air smelt of sweet, newly bloomed flowers, the sky was almost the color of the ocean itself. "Ahh~," spreading apart the window curtains, unlatching the window itself, Moda stuck her head out the window to inhale the sweet scent of fresh air. Resting her crossed arms on the window sill, Moda closed her eyes thoughtfully, struggling to stay up because of her short height. "Waahh~ It's such a beautiful day!" It seemed as if she was talking to no one else, but herself. Life seemed lonely for Moda, no one to talk to but the cows that she milked or just herself. Every so and then, someone would come visit, maybe just for a minute or two, but then leave. Moda wore a smile on her face, seemed as if it was permanently painted across her lips. Opening them, she began to dance around as if she was in the ball, herself in a beautiful, elegant red dress with a man dancing with her, his hand on her waist and the other, her hand in his. She began to sing a tune, <em>Bink's Sake<em>, as she grabbed a metal tin into her arms, pretending it was the man and twirled her way out of the house.

Usually on a day like this, the cows would be scattered all over the place, having their own place to eat their own food, but not today. As soon as Moda opened her eyes, she stopped singing, and just stopped everything. The cows were all crowded in one area, overlooking the river. The only thing that was scattered was their moos, droning the air with their hollers. "Hm..?" Moda ran over towards them and crawled past them to see what they were so intrigued by. Eyes widening, she gasped. A boy, probably a little older than her. His clothes were all torn up, and there were scars, as if from a battle, all around his body. The cows dispersed once Moda dragged the boy up, struggling, because she, again, was short, and weak. Placing her soft and small hand on his cheek, she shot her hand back to her body as if it was the _Gomu Gomu Pistol._ "Cold!" she cried, warming up her hand on her skirt. When it warmed once again, she shook him lightly, to see if he just fell asleep. But he didn't wake up. _He's not dead, is he?, _Moda thought nervously, _heheh... I hope not..._ Grabbing him by the arms, she dragged him all the way inside, forgetting what else she had to do . For the rest of the day, Moda sat on stand-by, constantly watching him, to see if he would awaken.

Moda stared out the window, the moon brightly gleaming through the window she opened in the early morning. "This is disappointing," Moda whispered to herself. A whole day wasted just watching some guy sleep. Yawning deeply, she shut the window tight and sat back down. Then, she rested her head in her arms, which rested on the bed the boy was lying in, sound asleep as well. Under the veil of the pale moonlight, Moda closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

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><p>The sun beamed through the glass window brightly, almost blinding. Moda was awakened by the moos of the cows outside, to see, the boy was no longer besides her. "Wah?" Moda began to panic, getting up immediately, she knocked over the chair and ran outside. "Wahh? What do you think you're doing?" Moda cried, running over towards her cows, shielding them. It was the boy. He was grasping onto a pipe, apparently chasing the cows around with it.<p>

"Who are you?" the boy asked, calming down a bit, as if he somewhat "surrendered".

"I'm Moda! But who are you? I just found you floating about in the river over there!" Moda pointed eagerly towards the water.

"Oh, my name is Sabo!" he replied, smiling brightly, so brightly his eyes were almost closed. One of his teeth was missing, his blond hair was messily shaven. Holding out his hand for her to shake, he chuckled a bit.

"...uh..." Moda went to shake his hand, she did, "so what were you doing in there?"

"Oh yeah... About that... Some angry chef guy threw me into the river, and well, I drowned..."

"What? Do you not know how to swim?" Moda asked, surprised, "almost everyone does."

"W-well about that... I can't... really..." Sabo became shy. To see this, Moda blushed as well. _So cute,_ she thought.

"Why not...?"

"I ate the devil fruit. the Maho Maho Fruit," Sabo said, "I'm magical. Heehee!" His bright grin appeared once more. Moda giggled as well, her cheeks blushing some more.

"So you can't swim...?"

"Why, you never heard of it...?" Sabo sounded astounded, "anyone who eats the fruit of the Devil will be cursed for eternity, never knowing how to swim. We just sink and sink and sink..."

"That's quite unfortunate..." Moda thought.

"Well, it's not that bad... Look at all the stuff I can do!" Sabo held out his hand and a small orb of light, pink and purple swirled all around.

"Wow!" Moda's eyes sparkled. _Suuugoiiiii, _she thought. He then closed his hand, and opened it again.

"Here!" Sabo handed her what used to be the orb. A pink flower that faded into purple at the edges. Moda took a whiff of it.

"Wahh! It smells so sweet!" She sniffed it once more, smiling brightly, her eyes closed. _A real smile?_

"I'm glad you appreciate it!" Sabo smiled back. A large roaring rumble sounded.

"Wahhh? What was that?" Moda cried.

"Oh..." Sabo blushed, "sorry... That was my stomach... I've been floating down that river for days... And I'm hungry as hell..."

"Oh, Uh!" Moda blushed as well. _Ugh! Stupid me, I bursted... It's just that his face~ He keeps blushing~, _Moda thought before she spoke. "Um... I mean... I can cook... If you'd like..."

"Really? Sure! That would be great!" Sabo was a ray of sunshine. A ray of sunshine into Moda's life. She hasn't smiled a genuine smile for ages.


End file.
